The End of the World As She Knows It
by Taineyah
Summary: COMPLETELY REPOSTED-IMPROVED! What if one morning you woke up and your house was gone? And you were the only one who remembered your family? And your friends had forgotten you? And a weird old man appeared out of thin air and whisked you away?
1. The Magic that Saved Her

IMPORTANT NOTICE:  I recently received feedback from several close friends, describing this story as moving too quickly and missing something.  On a reread, I realized that I had succumbed to that awful disease that afflicts every fanfic writer at some point in their career: " Hot Off the Presses Syndrome."  In favour of receiving quick feedback, I sacrificed quality.  The first and second chapters have had a massive overhaul, resulting, I hope, in improved quality and detail.  The second chapter will become the third, as I have to divide this chapter into two parts to fit that detail in.  My apologies to any reader who read the first version!

Well, here it is.  It's an idea that came to me at, like, 2 am last night.  Sorry if you don't like it, but it's my idea.

Disclaimer:  Taineyah does not own the characters from J.K Rowling's books.

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                Madelyn Harris rolled over as the sunlight streamed in her window.  Eyes still closed, she reached down to pull her blanket over her head and ... it wasn't there.   Surprised, she opened her eyes.  Not only was her blanket not on her bed, her bed, indeed her entire house wasn't there either.

                She hadn't done any sleepwalking in years, but she figured that that was the only logical explanation.  She stood up and looked around.  She had woken up in a vacant lot, and she recognised her surroundings.  She rubbed her eyes and pinched herself.  She had woken up precisely where her house had been when she went to bed the night before.

                Unnerved by this discovery, she trotted across the street to her neighbour, Mrs. Dunlap.  The woman was rather elderly and often forgot names and such, but she always knew where everyone in the neighbourhood was, as everyone had taken it upon themselves to take care of her and always told her where they were going.

                She tried to calm her own fears, convinced that it was some sort of elaborate joke, or maybe a dream.  She knocked and the old woman opened her door.  

                "Hello dear.  What can I do for you this fine morning?"  Mrs. Dunlap smiled agreeably, although she did seem a little confused by her early-morning caller's disheveled and pajama-clad appearance.

                "Mrs. Dunlap, do you know where my parents are?"  Madelyn spoke in a slow, fairly loud voice, as her neighbour was rather deaf.

                "What are their names, dear?  I have ever so much trouble remembering people's names."

                Patiently, Madelyn told her.  "Bill and Sarah Harris."

                "I don't know them.  Where do they live?" 

                Madelyn pointed across the street to the now-vacant lot, even more frightened that something was terribly wrong. 

                "Why, there hasn't been a house there in over 30 years!!  That's when the last one burnt clean to the ground."  The woman looked absolutely shocked.

                "There must be some mistake.  There was a house there just yesterday," Madelyn insisted.

                "I don't appreciate pranks, young lady.  Your parents ought to be ashamed of you, trying to confuse a poor old lady like myself."  The old woman closed the door sharply.

                Madelyn didn't know what to do.  Mrs. Dunlap didn't even remember her house?  Tears started streaming down Madelyn's face, as she trekked down the street to her best friend's house.

                "Hello, do you need something?" Tara's mother asked.

                "Do you know where my mum and dad are?"

                "I don't know who they are, I'm afraid.  Are you lost?"

                Madelyn shook her head and started to leave, when Tara came out to the door, to see what was happening.

                "Tara, have you seen my mum and dad?" Madelyn asked.

                "Who are you?"  Tara wrinkled her nose a bit.  "How on earth would I know where your parents are?  I haven't a clue who they are.  For that matter, how do you know my name?"

                Madelyn turned away from this person, her best friend in the whole world, who didn't even know who she was.   She took off down the sidewalk, wandering up to other neighbours' houses as she went, but no one could remember her or her parents.  

                Having nowhere in the whole world to go, she found herself sitting in the empty lot, crying her heart out.  She had no clothes, aside from the Winnie the Pooh pajamas she was wearing, no money, and seemingly no past.  It was like a nightmare, but no matter how many times she pinched herself, she didn't wake up.

                She lifted her head to look around, hoping to see things return to normal, hoping to see her bedroom appear and hear her alarm go off, but instead she saw an old man, with long white hair and half-moon spectacles, appear out of nowhere.  She nearly toppled backwards with shock.

                "Madelyn Harris?"  His voice was soft, kind and soothing.

                "You know who I am?"  Her voice rose in shock and she dried her eyes of tears, to see if her eyes were deceiving her.

                "Yes.  I do know who you are.  I know of your family's fate."  He looked sad, as though he pitied this child who was sitting before him.

                "Are they okay?  What happened to them?  Is this a joke?  A dream?  What's going on?"  Madelyn began babbling quickly as she allowed panic to swallow her.

                "This isn't the place to tell you.  I'm going to take you back to the school I work at and then I'll explain it to you."

                "I'm not going anywhere!! What if my family comes back?  How will they know were to find me?"  At that, she fainted, the old man having pulled a stick out of his pocket and mumbled something under his breath.

                "I'm sorry to have to do that to you," he said, as he gathered her up in his arms in a remarkable display of strength for someone of his obvious age.  "I just don't think that you should have any further shock today than what I must tell you and getting you back to Hogwarts would certainly count as a shock."

****

                When Madelyn woke up again, she was in what appeared to be an office.  It had a desk, an entire wall of books and the other things you'd expect in an office, but it also had feathers, rolls of paper, bowls with strange writing on them, strange herbs hanging from a section of the bookcase and a bird so beautiful that she wondered if it could possibly be real.

                "Ah.  You're awake," the man said, coming around a corner in the back of the office.

                "How dare you kidnap me?!?  Just wait until my father finds out what you've done!  He'll charge you and then sue you and then sue you again!"  Madelyn looked around the room quickly, searching for an escape route.

                "I fear that he will be unable to find me," the man replied, adjusting his glasses.

                "Who do you think you are?  Of course he'll find you."  Madelyn remembered the vacant lot and was already trying to figure out precisely what was going on.

"I am Professor Albus Dumbledore.  I am Headmaster of Hogwarts School, the place that you are in."

                "You said you'd tell me what happened to my family.  Tell me now and then take me home, or I'll start screaming, and you won't be able to shut me up."

                "I did say I'd tell you what happened.  I'm a firm believer in the truth…"

                "Says the man who kidnapped me!"  Madelyn's brown eyes glared ferociously from under her eyebrows.

Dumbledore ignored her and continued.  "So before I start, I'm going to tell you to ask me further questions about anything you feel confused about.  It's a complicated subject, and I don't want you to discover a few years from now that what you understood and what actually happened were two entirely different things."  Dumbledore looked at her in such a way that she felt as though he could see right into her soul.

                "Okay.  Now tell me."

                "First, you have to be told this:  There are two entirely different and completely separate worlds in England, and indeed, the entire world."

                *Great, I've been kidnapped by a madman!*  Aloud, she said, "They would be?"

                "The wizarding world and the muggle world."

                "Muggle?"  Madelyn wondered just how delusional this man was, making up his own words.

                "Non-wizarding folk.  People who cannot do magic."

                "Magic?"  She was skeptical.  "Next you're going to tell me that the bogey-man is real."

                "He is, but that's not part of this story."

                Madelyn shook her head sadly, almost pitying this crazy old git.

                "Most people in the wizarding world don't want to hurt anyone, not even muggles.  Unfortunately, there is the odd person who enjoys it above all else, and there is one such man, Voldemort, who is power hungry and wishes nothing more than to take over the wizarding world.  He's extremely powerful and..."

                "Did he do this to me?  Did he destroy everything I've ever known?"  Madelyn found herself believing the story, all of a sudden.  It was too preposterous to not be true!

                "Yes."

                "How?"  Her voice was flat, and she was clearly trying to decide how she would get her revenge on this Voldemort.  

                "There is one spell which can take the magic right out of a wizard or witch.  It is only used by the truly evil, and it is forbidden even to name it.  When it is used, a muggle family ceases to exist."

                "They die?"

                "No.  They cease to exist.  It's as though they were never born and their belongings had never been made."  Dumbledore examined the face of the young girl sitting in front of him.  He could see anger and loneliness written all over her face.

                "Then why am I still here?"  Her voice was cold, bitter.  "I've never used magic."

                "It seems that you aren't a muggle at all.  The spell can't erase a witch or a wizard from existance, and you are a witch."

                "What!?!"  She was more shocked than she'd ever been in her life.  She'd lost her family, her friends and her home all in one day.  Now this man was trying to shake the very foundations of her reality.

                "Normally you would have started school here when you were eleven, but you were somehow missed by the Detection of Magic bureau."  Dumbledore knew that Madelyn's powers were either weak, or very well hidden, or she would never have been missed.

                "There's a Detection of Magic bureau?"

                "There's an entire Ministry of Magic."

                "I'm 15, not eleven.  What are you going to do with me?  It doesn't seem like I have anything or anywhere to go."

                "If you think you can handle an advanced program, I'll have you put into the fifth year classes and assign you a tutor in each subject."

                "So I'll be five years behind?"  Madelyn snorted.  She'd never been good at school.  That had always been Mindy, her twin sister's, department.

                "You'll only be four years behind.  The school year only started last week."

                "So I'll graduate in..."  She was stil unsure that she could do it, but she wanted to figure out the facts before she made any decisions.

                "Three years."

                "In three years and I'll be a fully qualified witch?"  She cocked her head to one side.

                "Yes."  Dumbledore could tell that the girl intended to go after Voldemort the moment she graduated.  He decided not to caution her against it, as the fact that she would have to work extrememly hard to be able to battle the Dark Lord would spur her to greater lengths in her studies.  He could deal with her wish for revenge in a few years, when he had to.

                "Can I go to an earlier year and start work with the younger students if I find the fifth year to difficult?"  Madelyn knew that she needed a back door in this, her first working with the magical world.

                "Of course."

                "When do I start classes?" 

                "On Monday."  He smiled slightly.

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                So, should I continue that or give it up as a lost cause?  While I have written many other fanfics (most of them were deleted when the music groups got taken off), this is my first HP fic.  Please review.


	2. Learning a New LifeWithout a Past

                Thank you for reading thus far.  I hope that you are enjoying.  Please don't forget to review.  It makes my day, and if you sign your review, I'll read at least one thing that you've written, and probably more.  

Disclaimer: Taineyah used to own Harry Potter and all rights and affiliates, but then Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling challenged her to a poker game...let's just say that Taineyah isn't very good at poker, because she thought she was playing Go Fish!

Taineyah: That's not true!  I thought I was playing Cheat!!!

Disclaimer:  Well _sorry!_

Taineyah:  You ought to be!  There's a very big difference between Cheat and Go Fish!

Disclaimer:  *rolls eyes*

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                It was Friday, and Madelyn spent the day selecting courses and reading bits of schoolbooks, which Dumbledore had brought to her from the library.  She was also asked to put on a tatty old hat, which yelled that she was to go to Gryffindor.  At 7:00, Dumbledore came by with four students.  

                "These are your tutors for the classes you have selected.  They will assist you in your attempts to catch up with the rest of your peers."  Dumbledore then turned to the students, three girls and a boy.  "This is Madelyn Harris.  She's new to magic, so she'll need you to explain some things."

                One of them, a girl with bushy brown hair, nodded and said, "I'm Hermione Granger.  I'll be tutoring you in Transfiguration, Charms, Astronomy, Potions, Herbology and I'm one of your Defence Against the Dark Arts tutors."

                "Thank you.  I'm very pleased to meet you," Madelyn replied politely.  "I hope I won't be putting you out too much--that's a lot of ground to cover."

                "It'll be okay.  I'm good at those subjects and it'll do me good to review some of the early work."

                Not to be outdone, the other two girls introduced themselves.  

                "I'm Parvati Patil," said the darker haired one.

                "I'm Lavender Brown," said the other.  "We'll be your Divination tutors.  It's a difficult course of study.  If you don't have a knack for it, you'll have a lot of trouble."

                "Well, thank you.  I hope that I have a knack for it then, so you won't have to work very hard."  Madelyn fought to remain polite at Parvati and Lavender's snobbiness.

                "Hi Madelyn," the boy said brightly.  "I'm Harry Potter.  I'm the other one of your Defence Against the Dark Arts tutors and I'll help you with Care of Magical Creatures, should you need it."

                "Nice to meet you," Madelyn said, truly meaning it.  There was something, a strange quality about Harry that made her like him instantly.  "You make Care of Magical Creatures sound easy."

                "It is.  All you have to do is listen to Hagrid and follow his instructions and you'll pass with flying colours."

                Madelyn thanked them and they left, as they had homework to attend to.

                On Saturday, Professor Dumbledore got her up at 6:30 from the cot she was using in his office until she had things sorted out fully.  

                "Today, Professor McGonagall, your head of house, will be taking you to Diagon Alley to buy the things you'll need for school."  He smiled.  "I think you'll find it quite interesting."

                "Buy?  I haven't any money.  How am I going to pay for my supplies?"  Madelyn hadn't even thought about the fact that having nothing meant that she had no money either.

                "I have discussed that problem with the other teachers, and we decided to give you a scholarship, based on your circumstances.  Not only will you be given the necessary money to pay your tuition here and your school things, you will also receive pocket money and some extra for Your other needs."

                "Thank you," she breathed. 

                "I took the liberty of obtaining you some extra clothes, so you won't have to go out in your pyjamas," Dumbledore said, anticipating her next question.  He motioned to a small heap of clothing.  "I hope it fits."

                She nodded her appreciation and scurried to pick them up.  Dumbledore left the office so she could change and came back a little while later with a severe looking witch.

                "Madelyn, this is Professor McGonagall.  You two are going to take a Portkey to London."

                "Hello, Professor," Madelyn said.

                "Hello, Miss Harris.  We'd best be off."  As the teacher said that, she picked up an old, tattered feather from Dumbledore's desk.  She glanced at her watch.  "Take hold of the feather, quickly!  It's nearly time!"

                Feeling a little bit silly, Madelyn grasped the ratty thing.  A second after she did, she felt as though someone had stuck a hook into her belly button and was pulling her along.  Fighting off nausea at the speed and motion, she clenched her eyes shut.  As suddenly as the motion had begun, it stopped.  Madelyn opened her eyes and found herself looking at a busy street in London. 

                "Let's get going," McGonagall said.

                Madelyn blinked as they entered a seedy pub, called the Leaky Cauldron.  It was dim and dull inside and McGonagall walked straight through, coming out the back into a barren courtyard.  Madelyn was about to ask what they were doing here, when McGonagall pulled out her wand and tapped a brick.  A doorway appeared, and through it, Madelyn could see a street, filled with people in the oddest clothes she'd ever encountered.  There were signs advertising cauldrons, magical cleansers, Quidditch (whatever that was) and strange items that sounded like something that the witches from MacBeth would have used.

                "I've already got your money," McGonagall said briskly as she walked through.  "So it's up to you, do you want to get your wand, your schoolbooks or your uniform first?"

                Madelyn turned about, looking around her.  "Ummm... My uniform?"  She wanted to see something vaguely normal in the midst of all this absurdity.

                "Very well."  McGonagall started off towards a shop called _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions._

                When they stepped in, McGonagall spoke to Madam Malkin for a moment, and then the woman started fitting Madelyn out in her uniform.  The woman worked quickly and it wasn't very long before she had the diminutive Madelyn, who stood barely five feet, fully decked out for school.__

Next, McGonagall took Madelyn on a whirlwind tour through Flourish and Blotts, where they picked up five years worth of schoolbooks.  There were so many books that McGonagall was forced to cast a floating spell on them and tie them together.  They had barely finished there, when McGonagall hurried her into a shop called Ollivander's.

                When they stepped into the store, there was dead silence.  No sound from the outside street filtered in.  It was downright eerie.  An old man came out of the back.

                "Hello.  You're looking for a wand."  It was definitely a statement, not a question.

                "That's right, Mr. Ollivander."  Professor McGonagall suddenly seemed far more patient than she had so far..  "She's just about to start at Hogwarts."

                "Hmmm..."  The man said thoughtfully.  He whipped a measuring tape out of his pocket, and it started measuring her.

                "Four foot 11 and 3/4 of an inch tall....9 inch forearm....23 inches from shoulder to finger tip._"  _ He paused, appearing to do some fast calculations in his head.  "Let's try something in...willow.  9 3/4 inches."  He trailed a finger along a shelf.  "Ah!  Here we are.  Unicorn mane hair in the core, flexible.  Take it."

                Madelyn swished it, at the man's instruction.  Nothing happened. 

                "Let's try...elder.  12 inches.  Dragon heartstring in the core.  Rigid."

                Madelyn took it from him and gave it a flick.  A series of small brown-gold sparks, precisely the same colour as her eyes, floated down from its tip.

                "That wand is good for defence work," Ollivander said as he wrapped it.  "I sold its brother to an Auror just the other day...I'd have thought that it would be too long for you, but when you swished that first one, it looked preposterously small.  You're bigger than your stature indicates."

                While McGonagall paid for the wand, Madelyn thanked him.  When they got outside, Madelyn turned to McGonagall.

                "What did he mean by that?  That I'm bigger than I am?"

                "We'll have to wait and see," McGonagall replied.

                "Why?"

                "That man has been running that shop since before I was born.  He says something about the future to every person who buys a wand.  To my knowledge he has never been wrong.  He's practically a legend."    McGonagall looked about.  "It's very hot, even for September, don't you think?  Let's get some ice cream."

                Madelyn smiled.  It was the kind of thing she'd expect from Dumbledore, not this very businesslike woman.

                After they'd eaten their ice cream, they finished their shopping by picking up a cauldron and some assorted potions ingredients and divinatory tools, along with appropriate gloves for Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology.  They were just about to go out into muggle London again and buy Madelyn some muggle clothes, which she would find more comfortable, as she had grown up wearing them, when Professor McGonagall stopped in her tracks.

                "Do you want a pet?" she asked, remembering that Dumbledore had instructed her to get Madelyn one.  He felt that Madelyn needed something to love, something that was all her own and that she could take care of. 

                "What kind?"

                "Just about anything you could want.  The real restrictions on what you can bring are placed on the First Years, so that they don't go crazy in their decision and end up with something poisonous on rampage.  For you, just use common sense."

                Madelyn nodded, and they made a quick detour into the Magical Menagerie.  Madelyn looked around for a minute, while McGonagall told her what she absolutely could not bring back to the school.  After some quick thinking, Madelyn decided on a raven, one of the few non-dangerous seeming creatures in the store.

                As soon as they left the store, Madelyn asked where they were going to put all of her things, as they obviously couldn't take them out into muggle London.

                "We'll ask Tom, at the Leaky Cauldron, to look after them, and them we'll pick them up after we get back."  McGonagall replied, taking her cape off to reveal some very fashionable muggle clothing.  Seeing her charge's astonished face, she added, "I subscribe to a muggle fashion magazine.  Some of the clothes are quite pretty."

                A few minutes later, they stepped out of the Leaky  Cauldron and started some normal (to Madelyn) shopping.  Over the course of the next couple of hours, they bought Madelyn an entirely new wardrobe, exceedingly similar to the one that she and her sister had shared up until Thursday night.

                Finally, McGonagall and Madelyn agreed that they had an appropriate amount of clothing for her to wear on days when she didn't have lessons, and in the evenings, after class.  They went back to the Leaky Cauldron, where McGonagall picked up a jar of something called Floo Powder. 

                "We'll be going to the Three Broomsticks, in Hogsmeade," she said, after explaining to Madelyn how to use the stuff.  "Hagrid will meet us there and take us back to the castle."

                "Who?"

                "Hagrid, the groundskeeper and your Care of Magical Creatures professor."

                "Oh!  That's where I knew his name from...Harry Potter mentioned it last night, when he came to meet me."

                "I'm sorry that all of your teachers aren't able to meet you before classes start.  If it were any other time of the year, they would, but right now, they're working exceptionally hard with review, to try and get the students back into a school mentality."

                "It's all right," Madelyn said, but she wished that she knew what she was actually getting herself into.

                The Floo Powder worked its magic, and they got to the Three Broomsticks without incident.  Hagrid greeted them loudly and heartily, startling Madelyn a little with his size.  She got a kink in her neck just looking up at the tip of his beard.

                He got them into a stagecoach and put all of the things that they'd bought in as well, causing it to be rather crowded when he got in.  The stagecoach moved quickly, and it wasn't very long before they were up at the castle.

                "I'll get yer things to the righ' places," Hagrid said, patting Madelyn on the back gently, but still nearly knocking her clean off of her feet.

                It was dinner time by the time they got back to Dumbledore's office and they ate quickly, with Madelyn reading Magical Theory as she ate.

                She continued to read for several hours after the meal, before falling onto her cot, absolutely exhausted.  It had been a long couple of days, and tomorrow night she was to be placed into the regular portion of the school, with all of the students, at dinnertime.  Despite her exhaustion, she had difficulty getting to sleep, due to the fears that she might not be accepted by the other students.

                She spent most of the day Sunday reading her textbooks frantically, terrified that she'd look like a fool in front of her peers.  She hadn't any idea what magical teenagers would talk about, but she wanted to be ready for anything.

                By Sunday night, when she was to move into her dormitory and be introduced to the general population of the school, Madelyn was exhausted and extremely homesick.  But there was no time for that!  As soon as she'd sat down after changing into her uniform, Professor Dumbledore told her it was time to go down to the Great Hall.

                He paused in the corridor and looked at her face, projecting compassion.  "I'm not going to explain to the school what happened to your family.  It's up to you who you want to tell, and how much you want to tell them.  Your past is your business."

                "Thank you," Madelyn replied, for she had been worried about how the other students would react to her past, and the fact that she was receiving a "scholarship".  She knew that it was charity, but she had no other option than to accept.  It wasn't as if she could go to her grandparents--they'd never had her parents!

                By the time they got there, the entire school was assembled.  Madelyn's legs started shaking as she crossed the Hall.  Thousands of pairs of eyes followed her as she walked by Dumbledore's side.  Dumbledore noticed her terror and whispered that she could sit in a vacant place, while he explained who she was.

                She searched the Gryffindor table for any of her tutors, the only people she knew, and found an empty seat between Harry and Hermione.  It was as though they had left the spot open on purpose. 

                A red-headed boy looked around Harry and said, "I'm Ron.  Hermione and Harry told me you'd be coming tonight!"  He seemed pleased to see the mysterious girl at last.

                "Students and faculty," Dumbledore started.  "Many of you have likely heard about the new student in our midst.  I'm going to quickly dispel some of the myths surrounding her.  She is not a werewolf, a vampire, any other creature of the night, Natalie MacDonald's dead grandmother or my big toe."  He paused while everyone laughed.

                "Madelyn Harris is a very polite young lady who has recently come to our school and will be joining into your classes.  She is a person and I expect you to treat her as such.  No badgering her for her past experiences or anything like that.  She is your peer."  Dumbledore sat down.

                "Great!" Madelyn muttered.  "Now the entire school will be asking questions about me.  Dumbledore promised that I could take my own time explaining myself to the student body."

                Harry looked to her, having just barely heard her words.  "The entire school will heed Dumbledore's instructions.  The only people who will bother you will be the Slytherins and they would have done that anyway."

                Throughout the remainder of the meal, Madelyn said very little, pondering her new life.  Afterwards, Hermione took her up to the Gryffindor girls' dormitory, so that she could settle in.  Madelyn immediately started reading again, to Hermione's surprise and relief.

                "At last, someone other than me who takes their studies seriously."  Hermione smiled happily and proceeded to take out her own school things.

                The girls studied for several hours, before falling asleep, so tired, at least in Madelyn's case, that they didn't even dream.

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                Well, there you have it!  The improved-chapter-two-which-used-to-be-part-of-chapter-one!  *takes a deep breath*

Well, please review, and if you don't know how to play Cheat, drop me a line by email and I'll send you the rules.  Just be sure to put fanfiction in the subject box, because I don't open random emails, to avoid receiving viruses and such.

Don't forget:  Reviews are like oxygen!!  Give me signed reviews, and I'll put out more chapters and review your story!!!!  I love you for reviewing!!

Disclaimer:  Taineyah, you're being about as subtle as a baseball bat hitting someone upside the head!

Taineyah:  *whispers* I know, but I got hardly any reviews at all on the first posting of this story, and I'm desperate!!!


	3. The First Step Is Often The Hardest

                Well, here's Chapter 3 of "End of the World as She Knows It."  I hope that you enjoyed the first chapters, even if you didn't find time to review them.  (_Hint, Hint....)_

Disclaimer:  Taineyah owns nothing, except Madelyn.

Taineyah: Hey Mr. Disclaimer, I think they've got it figured out that I'm not J.K. Rowling!

Disclaimer:  Well, you could do with some reminding!  *Runs away as Taineyah shoots lightening bolts out of her eyes and hits him in the butt*

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                Hermione shook Madelyn awake.  "If you don't hurry up and get dressed, you won't have time for breakfast before we go to Potions."

                "It's too early.  The sun isn't even up."

                "We're on the west side of the tower.  We don't get the morning sun," Hermione replied.  "If you're late for Potions on your first day, Snape will skin you alive!"

                Reluctantly, Madelyn got out of bed and got dressed.  "Let's go, then," she said, picking up her book bag.

                They went to the Great Hall, where Harry and Ron were almost finished their breakfast.  Madelyn readjusted the headband that kept her short brown hair out of her eyes and sat down.  She helped herself to a variety of foods and started eating.

                "You'll want to be careful around Snape," Harry said to her.  "He's in charge of Slytherin and he doesn't like Gryffindors very much."

                "Especially not us.  He hates Harry and, by association, me and Hermione," Ron said.

                "Is Potions terribly hard?" Madelyn asked.  "I've never done much magic."

                "Snape makes it seem harder than it is.  Just follow instructions and you'll do fine," Hermione said.  "It's more like cooking than magic."

                "I'm good at cooking..." Madelyn stopped as she was overwhelmed by a memory of she and her twin sister making lasagne.  They'd made a mess of the kitchen, but the lasagne had been perfect.

                "Then it shouldn't be too difficult for you," Harry said, pretending not to notice her abrupt silence.

****

                Potions was in a dungeon.  Somehow, Madelyn didn't find it at all strange to discover that, considering the things she'd encountered since Friday morning. 

                "You are Madelyn Harris?"  Snape seemed to find it somehow astonishing.  "I had expected someone more...formidable."  He took in her mousy brown hair, brown eyes and short stature.

                "I am often underestimated," she replied, drawing herself up to her full height of five feet.  She hadn't seen Snape at dinner the evening before, and something about the man sent her skin crawling.

                "Indeed?  Well, if you think this will be an easy course of study, you will find that you have underestimated me." 

                A pair of Slytherins snickered at the exchange.

                Snape looked satisfied with himself.  "I'm going to assume that you can follow basic instructions and set you to work making a potion that every _first_ _year_ student can prepare."  The way he stressed the phrase 'first year' told Madelyn that he didn't think she should be allowed to even try to catch up with her age group, or that she'd be capable of doing anything useful.   "The ingredients are on that shelf, the instructions are on page 17 of Magical Drafts and Potions."  Snape turned away from Madelyn and stalked across the dungeon to the front of the room.  

                "You'd better get started," Hermione hissed.  "That potion could take all lesson."

                Madelyn opened her book.  The potion was intended to cure boils.  The instructions sounded easy enough, kind of like making soup, but the ingredients were very odd.

                "Nettles?  Snake fangs?  _Horned slugs?_" she whispered to herself.  She hoped she wouldn't be asked to drink it or anything like that.

                She busied herself, stewing the slugs and crushing the snake fangs into a fine powder.  She boiled things by the clock and was careful to read every instruction twice.  She was determined to make the Potions Master see that he was wrong about her.

                Finally, she took her cauldron, filled with a bright green liquid, off the fire.  She raised her hand.  After several minutes, Snape came over and peered into her cauldron.

                "You have never made a potion before?"  Somehow the simple question came out like an accusation.

                "Never."  Madelyn was anxious, terrified that she'd done something wrong

                Snape turned to Hermione.  "Five points from Gryffindor.  You may be her tutor, but you were not given permission to help her with this."

                "Hermione never..."  Madelyn stopped at a look from Snape.

                For the rest of the lesson, Madelyn took down the notes that the rest of the class had taken while she had been working over her cauldron.  She kept her head down and let the anger course through her veins.  If and when she ever got through with Voldemort, and paying back Dumbledore's generosity, she'd have to spend some time making this man look like a fool.  He deserved it.

*****

                Lunch was uneventful, luckily for Madelyn, as she needed some time to calm down after Potions.  Then, she went with Harry and Ron to the North Tower for Divination.  The air was heavily perfumed and nearly impossible to breathe.

                "Hello, dear.  I've been expecting you," the insectl-ike Professor Trelawney flitted over to Madelyn.  "I'll ask you to sit with your tutors."

                Madelyn nodded, too choked by the perfumes to speak She turned towards Parvati and Lavender.

                "I don't suppose you've ever encountered the cards before?"  Professor Trelawney blinked, her enormous eyes making her look like a dragonfly.

                Madelyn hid her amusement as she turned back to the woman.  "I know a few basic spreads, if you're talking about Tarot cards.  My best friend's mum used to read and she taught me."

                "We're working with the cards for the first time this month, so you shouldn't have much trouble keeping up.  I will, from time to time, ask you to come for some extra work with tea leaves, astrology, palmistry and crystal balls.  Parvati and Lavender can help you with the rest."

                "Thank you, Professor," Madelyn choked out, her eyes watering.  She sat with Parvati and Lavender, at a round table surrounded by armchairs.

                The two girls were whispering.  Finally, Parvati looked at Madelyn.  "You're ready to work hard?"

                "Yes.  Divination is an art-form.  If you don't have the gift, it's nearly pointless taking the class, as it will be too difficult.  I read that page of the textbook.  If we're lucky, I will have the gift, and it will be easy on us all."  Madelyn found her Divination tutors exceedingly snobby and horrible, but they were going to help her, so Madelyn found it necessary to pacify them.

                "So long as you don't expect us to work miracles and put you at the top of the class."  Lavender sniffed.  "We'll help you if we can."

                By this time, Professor Trelawney was at the front of the classroom.  "Settle down, students.  We're going to begin today by learning the Celtic Cross spread.  Does any one know what it's used for?"

                Madelyn raised her hand.  "It's used to discover hidden aspects of a relationship, romantic or otherwise.  It can uncover aspects including, but not limited to, the future and the true feelings of another member."

                "Very good!  One point for Gryffindor.  Does anyone know how to lay the spread?"

                Madelyn raised her hand again.  "I'd have to show you, because it's hard to explain."

                "Go ahead," Professor Trelawney said eagerly.  She hadn't expected the new student to contribute anything for quite some time.

                Madelyn shuffled her cards, which showed pictures of humans and dragons.  Every deck in the store where she'd gotten them had been different, and these cards were the ones that seemed most like her friend's mother's deck, the ones she'd learned with.  "Who do you want me to read?" 

                "Just do a quick reading on yourself."

                "She had to pick the hardest person to read for, didn't she?"  Madelyn muttered, as she thought of a question and started putting down the cards.

                "Perfect!"  Professor Trelawney looked ecstatic as she came over to peer at what Madelyn was doing.  The rest of the class crowded around.  "Can you read them?"

                "Mm hm," Madelyn said thoughtfully.  "I might not do it quite perfectly, because it's a lot harder to read oneself."

                "That's a good point.  Go ahead."  Professor Trelawney seemed so happy that she might burst.  Parvati and Lavender glared.

                Madelyn started speaking as she looked at her spread.  "The dominance of the major arcana implies that my life is in a state of turmoil, where there are a lot of powerful people and strong forces surrounding me." 

                She pointed at the first card.  "The Emperor.  It shows a male figure, either very intelligent or very brave, or maybe both.  The High Priestess.  A strong-headed, intelligent person, female.  The Knight of Pentacles.  A male, cautious and realistic, with a tendency to be pessimistic.  The Star, inverted."  

                Madelyn swallowed.  That had always been the card that came up for her sister, and it had always been inverted.  "A person who has been there, by my side but is now gone and will never be seen again.  This person still holds an influence over me, even though she's gone."  Madelyn brushed away a tear. 

                 "The King of Pentacles.  A powerful male figure holds a strong influence over me.  Judging by the dark background of this particular card, he isn't a good person.  Death.  Although the light is favourable, based on the later appearance of the Sun, there are going to be a lot of changes with these people in the near future.  Many of these changes will be extremely difficult to deal with.  The Sun.  A favourable light which cannot be stopped from existing shines on my relationship with the three people at the beginning.  The Chariot.  I have a long way to go to understand the reasons for my Star being gone.  The journey will be difficult."  Madelyn sniffed, but kept reading. 

                 "The Two of Wands.  An action, on my part, which will throw my life askew.  It may be as simple or small as me saying a single word.  Judgement.  An absolution of my major problems...a rebirth of sorts."

                "Excellent.  Can you put it all together and tell us what it means?"  Professor Trelawney clasped her hands together hopefully.

                "I have recently met three figures, two male and one female, because a man has caused me to lose someone close to me.  They are likely to become strong allies, even friends.  I'm going to do or say something to them which will shock them into helping me on my journey and they will eventually help me to reach a plateau in my life."

                "That was amazing.  I've never had anyone read that clearly the first day we pulled out the cards and actually began working with them.  Three points for Gryffindor."

                "It was something to do on rainy days, when I was younger.  I've been reading for five years.  It's not like everyone else you've taught has had a lot of experience."  Madelyn was blushing.

                Parvati and Lavender, upset at having been outshone by their student, refused to speak to her for the rest of the class, which made Madelyn happy, as she didn't particularly want to chat with her tutors.

                After class, as Madelyn was walking out of the North Tower on her own, Harry and Ron stopped her.  "You can walk back to Gryffindor with us, if you like," Ron said.

                Madelyn smiled a little.  "Thanks."

                "Were you okay back there?" Harry asked as they walked.  "I thought it was pretty cruel of Professor Trelawney to have you keep reading when you were so upset."

                "I'm okay.  It's just... the inverted Star was always my twin sister's card and... I lost her recently."

                "I'm sorry," Harry said, compassionately.

                "Yeah... we were kinda close.  I miss her."

                They walked in silence, as neither of the boys knew what to say.

                "If you ever wanna talk about her..." Harry finally said.

                "Sure."  Madelyn cut him off, so he didn't have to finish the sentence.  She knew that that card was her sister's way of saying that she was okay, but Madelyn had to avenge what had happened to her and stop it from ever happening to another.  She was more determined than ever that, someday, she would pay back the evil Voldemort for his crimes against her family.

************************************************************************

There's chapter 3.  I'd just like to say that I don't actually read Tarot cards, so my best friend, who has the pen name Amieva on this site, worked on the Tarot reading with me for almost an hour, trying to get it right.  It may not be perfect, as I was insistent on using several cards, and bending their interpretations a bit (like the Star.  Madelyn knew who that card was, and interpreted it as such), but, thanks to Amieva, it is fairly accurate, compared to the original draft.

I apologise for the seeming slowness of the chapters.  I promise that there's not going to be a chapter for each day.  After the first few days, it might be one a week, or, in some cases, one a month, in the Hogwarts world.  (I'm going to try to update twice a month.)  I need to set the scene (and show the world that Maddie _isn't_ another Mary Sue type.)

Things will speed up.... and get a little racier, maybe.  Life is best when you know what's going on and how many people like your story!!!!

Thanks, Tainz.

PS  If you review mine, I'll review yours (if it's signed.)  Everyone likes reviews, so I'll return the favour, as soon as I can.


	4. Getting to Know You

                Hey!  I've got a new character to add to my author's notes.  I'd like to introduce.... The Plot!

The Plot: *rears its ugly head*  Hey! *runs into a mystical corner that has appeared in the white floaty mist that constitutes Taineyah's brain*  Wah hah hah hah!

Disclaimer:  That wasn't very nice!

Taineyah:  It was a figure of speech!  The Plot is actually quite cute!  She looks like a tiny gold dragon, with a long twisty tail.

The Plot:  You don't *sniff* think I'm *sniff* ugly?

Taineyah:  No, silly.  Come here!  *Gives The Plot a big hug*  Disclaimer, do your stuff!

Disclaimer:  Taineyah owns nothing, except for Madelyn, me, The Plot and her boyfriend, The Pickle Jar.

Taineyah, The Plot, Disclaimer:  Enjoy!

**************************************************************************************

                It was nearly midnight before she finally finished all of the homework she'd been assigned and read a few spare chapters.  She and Hermione packed their things and went to bed.  It was a matter of a few moments before Hermione was asleep, leaving Madelyn to lie qietly in the darkness.

                Madelyn lay awake for nearly an hour, reflecting on the first day of her life in a school of magic.  She remembered the warm tingling that she'd felt when she'd picked up her Tarot cards, the same feeling she'd always felt when she was about to do a reading.  Was that magic?  Was that what magic felt like?  

                She thought back to other times that she'd felt that.  When she'd been in trouble with teachers, a disturbance in the hall would call them outside and they'd forget what she'd done.  When her sister and her had been fighting over who got to wear a shirt from their joint wardrobe.  Quite often their parents would walk in, carrying another shirt just like the one they were fighting over.

                Why was it that she had magic in her when her twin, her identical twin, clearly had none?  Was it something she'd done?  Was it something she hadn't done?  Madelyn couldn't think of anything.  She and Miranda, who she had nicknamed Mindy when they were little, had rarely been apart.  Clearly magic wasn't genetic, for identical twins had identical DNA.

                A tear trickled down her face.  Why had the fates been so cruel as to choose her?  To make her live her life alone, with nobody?  Why hadn't she been left, without this curse?  Madelyn didn't want to be alone.

                After awhile, she simply drifted off into sleep, exhaustion taking its toll once again.

****

                Madelyn tossed and turned as Hermione watched.  A light sleeper by nature, Hermione had been awakened by the rustling of Madelyn's blankets.  Unlike last night, Madelyn's first in the dormitory, Madelyn was mumbling something under her breath, which began increasing in volume and clarity, until Hermione could make out what the girl was saying.

                "Mindy... Come back...  Mummy?  Daddy?  Where are you?  Why'd you leave?"

                Hermione wasn't sure whether or not to wake up her new friend.  It had become accepted by Ron, Harry and Hermione, over the course of the day, that Madelyn could spend time with them, as she didn't really know anyone else.  They hadn't said anything, they'd just all invited her to go wherever they were going.

                "Brent?  I'm sorry I said you were a brat.  I won't do it again."  Madelyn's voice was pleading.

                Hermione started across the room to wake Madelyn, but just as she got to Madelyn's bed, Madelyn sat bolt upright and started screaming.

                "Mum!  Dad!  Don't leave me here!  The magic isn't my fault!  I don't want to be alone!"

                Hurriedly, Hermione shook her small friend awake.  A couple of the other girls stirred.

                "What's goin' on?" one of them asked sleepily.

                "Nothing.  Go back to sleep," Hermione said, still shaking a struggling Madelyn.

                Madelyn opened her eyes and took in her surroundings.  A small sob escaped her lips, and she buried her head in her arms.  Not knowing what to do, except let Madelyn know that she wasn't alone, Hermione sat on the bed, placing a hand on Madelyn's shoulder.

                After a few minutes, the sobs and shaking subsided enough that Hermione thought Madelyn would be able to hear her.  "Are you okay?"

                Madelyn nodded, still unable to speak.

                "Listen, let's go down to the Common Room.  I don't think I'm going to get to sleep again, so there's no sense in staying up here.  We might wake the others."

                "'Kay," Madelyn stuttered out.  She stood shakily and started towards the stairs.  

                After pausing to grab a light jumper, Hermione followed.  When they got downstairs, they took seats by the fireplace, where a magical fire that put out hardly any heat (it was still September, after all) was crackling brightly.

                Madelyn stared into the fire, holding her knees up against her chest.  "I miss them."

                "Your family?" Hermione guessed, not wanting to pry.

                "Yeah.  My Mum and Dad and Brent and Mindy...Miranda.  She didn't want me to call her Mindy anymore.   I wish I could go home."

                "We'll go up to the owlery and send them an owl tomorrow, first thing.  I'll bet Harry'll even lend you Hedwig."

                "I can't send them an owl.  They're gone."

                Something in the hollow, empty way that Madelyn said it let Hermione know that her friend wasn't ready to talk about it yet.  Hermione sat there, silently waiting to see what else Madelyn was going to say.

                "It was horrible.  I watched them go this time.  I didn't see it in real life, but I watch it when I'm asleep.  They leave and they don't come back."

                Madelyn and Hermione sat in companionable silence.  They didn't have to say anything for Madelyn to understand that Hermione was her friend, for only a friend would sit with you in the middle of the night.  After awhile, Madelyn fell asleep again, and Hermione dashed up to their room and brought down a blanket, with which she covered Madelyn.

                She shook Madelyn awake, just enough that she'd be able to hear and understand Hermione.  "I'm going back up, to sleep.  I haven't abandoned you.  I'll be just upstairs."

                Madelyn nodded her head groggily and curled back up in her chair.  

                After she got back into her bed, Hermione thought about her friend's words, the ones she'd said while she was still asleep.  No matter which way she looked at it, she came to the conclusion that Madelyn's family had abandoned her, just because she was a witch.

****

                When Hermione woke up the next morning, Madelyn was back in her bed, looking as though she had never left.  Hermione tiptoed across the room, as most of the others were still sleeping.  As she approached Madelyn's bed, however, she saw Madelyn's brown eyes looking back at her.

                "Do you want to get some breakfast and go for a walk?" Hermione hissed.  "It's a beautiful morning." 

                Madelyn nodded, and the two girls set to work getting dressed.  They also packed their schoolbags with the books that they'd need for class, intending to leave them in the Great Hall while they went for their walk.  There was no sense in having to come all the way back up to Gryffindor tower, just to get their books.

                A few minutes after Hermione had woken up, they headed downstairs.  They were surprised to find Harry and Ron, already sitting in the Common Room, chatting quietly.

                "The sun was pouring right in the window and it woke me up," Ron said by way of explanation.

                "So he felt it necessary to drag me out of bed to keep him company," Harry added.  

                Madelyn noticed that his hair was even more dishevelled than usual.  It was as though he hadn't even bothered to comb his hair.

                "We're going to get some breakfast," Hermione told the boys.  "If you want to come, we're going for a walk right afterwards.  It's a beautiful day and Madelyn hasn't walked the grounds yet."

                "Sure," Ron replied.  "I'm hungry."

                The four of them left by way of the portrait hole and headed down to the great hall.

                "Hey!"  Madelyn whirled around, eyes wide.  "Wasn't this a different staircase yesterday?"

                The other three laughed.  

                "It was," Harry chuckled.  "The stairways like to move around.  Eventually you'll learn which ones move where and you'll be able to find your way around quite nicely."

                "That's just plain weird," Madelyn murmured, setting the others off into peals of laughter again.

                They continued, in high spirits and grabbed some toast and some fruit, which they could eat as they walked.  They headed outside, and as soon as they got out, Madelyn's raven flew down and perched on her shoulder.

                "Ooh!"  Hermione reached out a finger to pet the bird's glistening feathers.  "Is she yours?"

                "Yeah, she is."  Madelyn carefully transferred the bird to her hand and held her out.

                "She's gorgeous!  What's her name?"  The bird had now leapt to Hermione's arm, enjoying the affection that was being lavished upon her.

                "I haven't found the right one yet, but I'm thinking of Morgana."  Madelyn paused.  "Do you think it suits her?"

                "Morgana...  I think it's perfect."  Hermione continued stroking the bird for a moment, and then it stole Madelyn's toast and flew off.

                "Girls..." Ron snorted, having been disgusted by the entire display.

                Harry nodded in agreement.  "They can be so...gushy!"  He grinned, letting the girls know he was only teasing.

                As they walked, Harry pointed out the greenhouses and Hagrid's hut, telling Madelyn about the lessons that they'd have in those classes.  

                Madelyn pointed to six large hoops standing at either end of a stadium ulike any she'd ever seen.  "What lesson do we use those in?" she asked.

                "Lesson?"  Ron looked absolutely outraged.  "That's the Quidditch pitch, not some bloody classroom!"

                "What's Quidditch?"

                Ron stopped dead in his tracks, shocked into speechlessness.  

                Harry smiled.  "I think Ron's forgotten that you're muggle born."  Harry continued talking for a few more minutes, explaining the complicated rules of the game.

                "Oh!"  Madelyn looked at the hoops brightly.  "It sounds like fun."

                "It is," Ron said, having found words again.

                "When do I take flying lessons?  It wasn't on my schedule, and I haven't seen anything about it in any of my books."

                "We'll talk to McGonagall.  She'll know."  Harry smiled, recalling his first flying lesson.  "Whenever you do start flying, you'll love it!"

**************************************************************************************

Well, that's chapter 4 of this mess.  Yes, The Plot's appearance here was subtle, but she was there.  She's sneaking in.

The Plot:  Can't wait until I get obvious!!  You'll love me!!!

Taineyah:  Er... Yes.  That's right.

The Plot and Taineyah:  Please R&R!

Disclaimer:  Could you girls keep it down?  Some of us are trying to sleep!


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